In recent days, a flurry of rumors has circulated, suggesting that Microsoft might be relinquishing its stronghold in the console industry by making its “exclusives” such as Starfield, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, and the Gears of War franchise available on PlayStation and other platforms.
The rumors suggest that Microsoft may consider transitioning more towards a third-party role with the XBOX brand. However, I find this unlikely given how Microsoft continues generating immense profits swindling its consumers with monthly subscription services, despite what may be perceived as “poor” sales of the latest generation XBOX Series X/S systems versus rivals.
Phil Spencer revealed that the company will unveil its vision for the future of Xbox at an event scheduled for next week.
While we await further details, Phil Spencer’s announcement seems to more or less confirm the rumors circulating. If the plan were to stick with the status quo of Xbox as a distinct gaming brand with its own “exclusives”, I assume they would have denied the rumors.
Although Spencer’s statement is concise, its tone suggests there may be significant implications. A “business update event” doesn’t sound like the usual hypefest.
Rather, it hints at a potential delivery of what beloved fanboys would perceive to be bad news and the end of the XBOX brand as a whole. What it’ll likely mean is that twits who pay absurd amounts of money for monthly internet connectivity might soon be able to t-bag the corpse of one another.
Microsoft seemingly wants to earn more money by allowing their Windows / XBOX exclusive titles to release on opposing systems, much akin to how Sony have embraced the PC for its “first party” titles.
Entirely for profit.
If I were a Microsoft shareholder, I would be advocating for action against the company for not implementing these strategies sooner. While such tactics would be justified if the hardware sales alone generated substantial profit margins, this is not the case with the XBOX Series X and S systems, I am almost certain that Microsoft is either losing money or barely scraping when it comes to hardware sales.
The situation is slightly different for Sony, as they have revised the PlayStation 5 more times than they’ve actually released PS5-only games. They have made adjustments such as using marginally denser silicon and a slightly more compact design with less metal inside thanks to a smaller heatsink.
However, Sony is not generating anywhere near the same level of profit on individual hardware sales as Nintendo are with the Switch.
A game isn’t truly an “exclusive” if it’s also available on PC. Microsoft’s failure to fully commit to genuine exclusivity by allowing PC releases has undoubtedly hindered them this generation. What they have aren’t true exclusives; instead, they’re sacrificing profits for self-serving marketing strategies.
As someone who solely plays on a PC, I don’t see the appeal of locking myself into an anti-consumer predatory console ecosystem. Personally, I couldn’t care less whether Microsoft begins releasing its “exclusive” titles on competing platforms.
It doesn’t affect me in the slightest. Instead, I can continue to pirate many such games at my leisure without any hindrance.
